NATO

This week’s visit to Astana by British Secretary of Defence Philip Hammond resulted in the signing of an agreement guaranteeing the transit of British military property and personnel across the territory of Kazakhstan. READ MORE

Partnership Training and Education Centres (PTEC) play an essential role in supporting NATO’s objectives for partnership with non-member countries. Initially launched in 1999 under the Partnership for Peace programme to develop training and education activities with Euro-Atlantic partners, activities have since been opened to participation of all partners. Most of the 23 institutions that currently make up the network of centres – of which 12 are located in partner countries – took part in an annual networking event known as the “Marketplace” at NATO Headquarters on 15 and 16 February. READ MORE

Georgia's prospects in NATO, after being more or less left for dead in the wake of the 2008 war with Russia, have lately appeared to be improving. NATO has recently changed its rhetoric on Georgia, for the first time calling it an "aspirant" along with several Balkan countries. And U.S. officials have said Georgia is making "significant progress" that should be recognized at the next NATO summit, in Chicago in May. READ MORE

President Barack Obama’s announcement last June of an accelerated U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan reopened debates in many European countries over when their soldiers should return from that unpopular war. French President Nicolas Sarkozy followed a few days later with an announcement that French troops would be reduced “in a proportional manner and in a calendar comparable to the withdrawal of American reinforcements.” Now, the tables have turned. With last week’s announcement, it was France that reset the transition calendar, arguing that progress in the transition allowed for the withdrawal of 1,000 French troops by the end of 2012. Although many U.S., Afghan, and NATO observers were initially critical, the Obama administration announced only a few days later that the United States also planned to end its combat mission in Afghanistan by mid-2013 and shift primarily to advising Afghan forces. READ MORE

The US is hardly eager to bear the brunt of foreign military deployments these days. On a recent US visit, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere explained how German forces are adapting to the situation. READ MORE

LtGen Bornemann and his delegation met with MGen Qian Lihua, the Chief of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defence (FAO MND), and Gen Ma Xiaotian, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. READ MORE

Britain and France are to sign a civil nuclear energy deal on Friday, as UK Prime Minister David Cameron meets President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. The British government claims the deal will create thousands of jobs. READ MORE

European bureaucrats are clearly not keeping pace with the geopolitical dynamics of the modern world. While the U.S. and China are expanding their spheres of influence in the Pacific, and Russia is working to create a Eurasian bloc, the EU actually fell out of big geopolitical games, limiting the expansion of its own influence and being fully concentrated on the internal redistribution of political and economic powers. Ignoring the European aspirations and foreign policy ambitions of Turkey and Ukraine, the EU shows geopolitical improvidence, limiting its own ability to conduct more effective policy in the Middle East and former Soviet space. READ MORE